Friday, September 22, 2006

Cliff Is Out of IraqLast night, Jana and I received the call we have been waiting for: Our son Cliff is out of Iraq and has returned to his base in Germany.He has been stationed at Camp Victory in Baghdad for the better part of the past year, and is now back at the Hanau Army Airfield outside of Frankfurt. He is in the 320th Engineer Company charged with surveying the land for logistical support and construction. You may read more about his unit's return on the base's website, www.hanau.army.milAs many of you know, Cliff is our second son to serve in Iraq. Our oldest, Chad, parashuted (I'm never sure of the past tense of that word, so let me put it the way the soldiers do: "jumped out of a perfectly good airplane!") at midnight on March 26 in 2003, right after the war started. His unit, the 173rd Airborne Infantry Division, secured the Bashur airfield near Kirkuk, and prevented the basically stable Kurds from retribution against their oppressors.I will express my feelings about our continued involvement in Iraq in a future blog. For now, we are very proud of Cliff, inexpressibly relieved that he is out of harm's way, deeply grateful not only for the service he has rendered in Iraq, but also for his amazing maturity and growth, and earnest in our unceasing prayers that this war stop soon. War makes a young man grow up fast. We have twice seen this sad, sobering reality.

9 comments:

Our son Matt served a year in Ramadi, Iraq as a gunner on a Humvee and was involved in the Fallujah assault. We were thankful that he returned home last year. He came back to us unhurt physically but very troubled emotionally. War is brutal ... I cry when I think about how much he has been hurting.

I join you in thanking Jesus for the safe return of your sons. When will Cliff be back in the states? Is Chad still in the military?

Charlie,WOW! Thank you, Lord. What a relief it must be for you and Jana to have Cliff out of Iraq! I know what it's like to have a loved one in a war zone, talk about a year-long heartache. Jana must be aching to have a big 'ol hug from her baby. I hope she gets one soon.Love from me and mine.El Senor es mi pastor, nada me falta.

Praise the Lord that Cliff is home safe. And praise the Lord that you are keeping ths site alive, fresh, inspiring and thought provoking. Your posting about finding Peachtree had to have been directly lasered at me (or so I felt). And it was great to receive it.Thanks, Charlie.

About Me

Charlie Johnson is the founding co-pastor of Bread, a non-traditional faith community in Fort Worth, Texas.
He has been in pastoral ministry for over 30 years, serving with churches in Kentucky and Texas, including the Trinity Baptist Church of San Antonio (2001-2006) and the Second Baptist Church of Lubbock (1989-2001).
He taught preaching at McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University (2006-2008), and was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers in 2008.
He is married to Jana and has three children. Chad (34) is married to Mary Beth Lancaster of Oklahoma and manages the Rocky Creek Ranch west of San Angelo, TX. Cliff (30) works the oil fields of Midland, Texas. Chris Anne (27) works and lives in Fort Worth. He has a granddaughter, Corley Elizabeth, age 3, and a grandson, Clayton Foster, 6 months.